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Racism is ingrained in every aspect of our lives. White people benefit from white privileges.
Most of the time, white people are unaware of their privileges.
I just had a haircut because I realize white people having dreadlocks is a form of unconscious racism.
I don't think white people realize how we are abusing our white privilege by having dreadlocks.
I will explain my journey with my dreadlocks.
I got dreadlocks because I was an environmentalist.
Dreadlocks were a good fit for the lifestyle I led.
I could wash my hair less, use less water and soap, and spend less time maintaining my hair.
Traveling was much more convenient with dreadlocks, among many other reasons.
I found it interesting that there were two different reactions to my dreadlocks.
Some people would perceive my hair as exotic, hip, and down-to-earth.
They would be in awe, telling me how much they loved my hair.
On the other hand, some people perceived my hair as dirty, unclean, gross, and fake.
These are the two different kinds of reaction I have been receiving.
I find it interesting how both reactions portray underlying racism.
For instance, would white people react the same way to a Black person with dreadlocks as they did toward me?
White people usually say dreadlocks are typical of Black people, something that is not exotic.
In contrast, white people would exoticize dreadlocks on white people.
This happens because my dreadlocks are free from racial significance
and I got cool points for borrowing other cultures.
The other reaction I have received about dreadlocks...
viewing my hair as dirty, gross, and fake also portrays underlying racism.
This is a projection of a preexisting stereotype rooted in people's inherent racist perceptions of black hair.
The word "dreadlocks" was coined by white colonists and slave owners...
who found Black people's hair to be dreadful and ugly.
Black people did not want to remain complicit toward
the white standard of beauty, such as straight hair and light-skin, among many others.
So, they decided to resist the oppression by growing dreadlocks.
They showed the white people that their hair was beautiful the way it was,
and that they refused to follow white people's standard of beauty.
So, dreadlocks are a significant cultural marker that have been passed through generations in the Black community.
Now as a white person, I loved the idea of having dreadlocks and I decided to have them.
My purpose for having dreadlocks is completely different from Black people's.
My reasons for having them pertain to the environment and the sake of convenience.
So, is it okay for me to have them?
Dreadlocks carry a historical and cultural meaning for Black people.
For me, as a white person with more power and privilege in this system,
to appropriate dreadlocks and come up with my own meanings...
...well, I could do this...
...but would it be the right thing to do?
I don't think so.
This doesn't mean that cultures cannot be shared or exchanged.
The equal cultural exchange would be possible only if power was evenly distributed amid cultures.
White people have the most power in this system, in this country, and the world.
Do Black people share the same level of power where they can stop exploitation? No. They are usually silenced.
Is it really a cultural exchange when I appropriate something that has a cultural and historical significance...
...associated to the resistance of white oppression.
As a white person who used dreadlocks for a different purpose,
I have shown the power inequality by flaunting my white privilege.
The problem with Whiteness, a white-dominated system,
is that it not only hurt People of Color, it hurt us too.
When white people moved to the United States from Europe,
they had to give up their cultures in order to be accepted as "true Americans."
If white people didn't appear patriotic enough, they would be treated as second-class citizens.
So to gain privilege and power, white people had to give up their cultures and languages when they came to the United States.
We are culturally without a culture based on our history of eliminating our European heritages and cultures.
So now we are culturally white without cultures.
White people have been operating the system of exploitation based on this history.
In the meantime, we always held the most power and privilege. It has been easy for us to take...
...clothes, food, music, and other things from marginalized cultures that had less power.
We left behind our European cultures when we emigrated into the United States. So we are adept at stealing others' cultural products.
It's sad because cultural appropriation hurts marginalized people and us alike.
Some people claim that white people such as the Vikings and Celts used to wear dreadlocks.
Therefore, it is okay for white people to use dreadlocks.
Just because certain white people in the past used dreadlocks doesn't mean it is okay for all white people to have them now.
Were dreadlocks a cultural significance in those groups that had them?
If so, why wasn't the dreadlocks passed on through the generations to us?
There are no pictures or records of white people wearing dreadlocks as a cultural expression prior to 1960's.
1960's and beyond was when white people started to appropriate dreadlocks.
So the argument that dreadlocks belong to white people does not sit well with me.
Here's another interesting thing.
Things we consider often to be taboo in the Western culture
such as dreadlocks, piercings, and tattoos
are also products of marginalized cultures.
Dreadlocks, piercings, and tattoos are a big part of some of the marginalized's cultures and traditions.
In the United States, we consider them as taboo or something to be frowned upon.
This shows how our system is dominated by the Whiteness and white supremacy.
Ballet, the English language, and straight hair always would
be considered as the norm, and never as taboo.
Because those things are what survived from the European culture,
thus, they became the norm in the United States.
With this knowledge, should we continue to perceive dreadlocks
as something white people are entitled to wear?
Dreadlocks have been considered a taboo for a long time because our negative perceptions of Black people.
I think it's really interesting if we really look at things that are ...
considered as taboo in our society, and see if they actually...
...are culturally significant products belonging to marginalized groups.
Dreadlocks are definitely one of them.
At first, I questioned and doubted everything I have heard about cultural appropriation.
I was a little defensive. I felt entitled to my own hair. I liked how dreadlocks fit my lifestyle.
I had good intentions. And I didn't hurt anyone.
But now I realize my reasons for having dreadlocks demonstrated white privilege... flaunted it actually.
And People of Color perceived me as a person who took advantage of her white privileges,
and refused to give them up for her own gain.
So, I decided to cut off my hair. I felt... Yeah, it was a hard decision but I feel good about it.
To sum it all up, dreadlocks are a hairstyle that Black people used to resist the westernized standard of beauty that belittled them.
Their way of making a statement that their hair is natural, let leave it be!
I really want to honor that history by not appropriating dreadlocks for my own purposes.
So now you know why I decided to cut my hair.